Dolphin Times -- FINAL ISSUE FOR 2014 SEASON

FINAL ISSUE FOR 2014 SEASON

Bannockburn Swim Team

Dolphin Times

Issue 7, Season 2014

Please share the Dolphin Times with your swimmers. We email only to the parents, but the fun of the newsletter is for the kids to see their names and their races written up. Pictures and prior editions of the Dolphin Times are available online at http://bannockburnswimteam.blogspot.com.

Dolphins To Face Merrimack, Palisades in Div. H

By Doll Finn

Senior Dolphin Correspondent

Bannockburn is headed to Division H in 2014 where the Dolphins will face some familiar competition.

Joining the team in Division H is cross-elementary school rival Merrimack as well as Palisades, our friends on the other side of the one lane bridge. Also in the division are Inverness Forrest that we competed against last year as well as North Chevy Chase and Tanterra.

With many Bannockburn swimmers staying in their age groups for 2015, this should be a strong year for the Dolphins and the right time to take on some of our neighboring pools.

As Dolphin Times noted last year, Reach of the Wall in 2012 had an insightful article explaining how the Montgomery County Swim League figures this all out. MCSL has created a proprietary program that creates the average times of the three fastest swimmers on each team in each event. They then run virtual meets so that all 90 teams compete head-to-head against each other.

The stat that matters is how many of these virtual meets do you win? The maximum is 90, which is the number of wins that Stonegate has as the leader of Division A. A few teams in Division 0 have zero or one win. Bannockburn clocks in with 42 wins. That puts us in last place in the division, though these ratings often are not indicative of how teams perform.

The league told Reach for the Wall that the system in 2011 produced an average margin of victory of 67 points. The only way the division assignment would change is if a new team with an established record enters the league.

The program does not age up swimmers or account for those leaving (or joining) the pool. So there is always margin of error. As a result, we may be ranked last but our fate is far from sealed.

Divisionals: Bannockburn Makes Its Mark

By Walter Tu Kold

Senior Dolphin Correspondent

The Dolphins came ready to fight at Regency Estates at the 2014 Divisionals Meet, which was the final competition of the season.

While the team had a strong start, it could not keep up the momentum and finished sixth in the meet. That was the same as how the team finished in the division one-on-one meets and how the team was ranked going into the season.

The meet began with the 100 IM with Gideon Helf finishing eighth and Andrew O’Brien in 10^th. For the girls, Shifra Eskin finished eighth and Katie MacIsaac finished 10^th.

The girls open 200 Medley Relay team of Jessie Kline, Hannah Melrod, Katya Damskey and Caitlin Ryan finished fourth.

As the meet moved into free style, Will Spooner put some points on the board with a fifth place finish with Max Kroloff in seventh. It was Darby LeFaivre who really scored with a second in 25 free.

Andrew O’Brien finished fourth in 9/10 50 free for another strong Dolphin swim.

In 13/14, Jeffrey Su was third with Jonathan Rufino in eighth. Katya Damskey also scored a third with Danielle Lair Ferrari in seventh.

Gideon Helf grabbed sixth and Lucca Scott eighth in 11/12 50 free with Shifra Eskin in ninth and Katie MacIsaac in 11^th.

Evan Steingass took fifth for 15/18 100 free with Owen Wassiliew swimming up and taking 12^th. Jessie Kline was eighth with Hannah Melrod in 10^th.

In an indication of just how tough this division was, in the 13/14 IM Jeffrey Su was fourth and Katya Damskey was second.

As we switched to back, Will Spooner took fourth in the 25 with Alex Spooner in ninth. Darby LeFaivre grabbed second and Annie Kessner was 11^th.

In the first win for the Dolphins, Andrew O’Brien took first in the 25 back for 9/10. Matthew Wu was 12^th. For the girls, Evelyn Wassiliew was sixth and Maya Lall was 12^th.

For 15/18 100 back, Evan Steingass took sixth and Owen was 12^th. Jessie Kline took sixth and Hannah Melrod was ninth.

In 11/12, Lucca Scott took seventh and Damian Molineus was 11^th. Katie MacIsaac was seventh.

Moving on to 13/14 boys in back, Jeffrey Su was fourth and Jack Blazes finished 9^th. For the girls, Katya took third and Caitlin Ryan was 12^th.

This brought us to the 15/18 100 IM, Evan Steingass took fifth and Owen Wassiliew swam up and took 12^th. For the girls, Jessie Kline took ninth with Hannah Melrod in 10^th.

The meet moved over to breast stroke. Max Kroloff had a strong swim in under 8 for third with Aidan O’Brien in 11^th.  Caroline Jensen took 10th and Nadia Lall was 12^th. In 9/10, Cole Wassiliew edged out Meyer Eskin for third with Meyer in fourth.

Gideon Helf took sixth in 11/12 50 breast with Ali Shafii in 10^th.  Shifra Eskin grabbed fourth and Katie MacIsaac was ninth. Jack Blazes was third in 13/14 and Jack McIsaac took seventh. Danielle Lair Ferrari was seventh.

For 15/18, Sarah Cobau swam up in 100 breast for 11^th. Hannah Melrod was sixth.

The Dolphins entered the final stoke needing points and Will Spooner delivered in under 8 fly  with a second and Max Kroloff in fifth. Darby matched Will with a second for the girls.

The Dolphins also got a strong swim from Andrew O’Brien in 9/10 50 fly with a third.  In what had to be an incredible heat, Jeffrey Su took third in 50 fly in an event in which the top 8 swimmers got All Star Times. Yet he was one-upped by Katya who took first place for the girls in another very fast heat. Yes, you can year the chant in the background of “We’ve got Katya….)

There is also a huge shout out to Ethan Wendel and James Cobau who swam up in 15/18 50 fly and finished 11^th and 12^th.  For the girls, Gabriella Helf and Marianna Pennybacker also both swam up for 11^th and 12^th.

In the 175 relay, the boys team of Andrew O’Brien, Gideon Helf, Jeffrey Su and Will Spooner grabbed fourth while the girl’s team of Evelyn Wassiliew, Shifra Eskin, Danielle Lair Ferrari and Darby LeFaivre took sixth.

Despite Tough Season, Dolphins Log Big Swims

By Haydn the Dog

Dolphin Editor and Chief

The season flew past faster that Jeffrey or Katya swim a 50 free. Despite the tough win-loss record, the team saw some huge improvements for many swimmers in 2014.

While the software used to track and measure times is a bit clunky, the crack IT staff at Dolphin Times believes it has found a way to compared a swimmer’s first time of the season against his or her best time of the season.

Assuming we pushed the correct buttons, the results shows some impressive improvements by Dolphin swimmers.

Below we highlight those swimmers with at least a 15% improvement in their times during the season.

·      Cade Afas improved 34% in 25 free.

·      Ben Baisinger-Lee improved 17% in 50 free.

·      Clara Baisinger-Lee improved 15% in 25 back.

·      Tim Burke improved 42% in 25 free.

·      Maya Clancy improved 22% in 25 back.

·      Alexa Crist improved 30% in 50 fly.

·      Darby LeFaivre improved 16% in 25 fly.

·      Sawyer Makl improved 25% in 25 free and 15% in 25 fly.

·      Grace Miller improved 15% in 25 back.

·      Anthony Noya improved 32% in 25 breast and 28% in 25 fly.

·      Celia Noya improved 15% in 25 free, 17% in 25 back and 17% in 25 breast.

·      Aidan O’Brien improved 23% in 25 breast and 20% in 25 fly.

·      Taylor Pyle improved 17% in 25 free and 16% in 25 breast.

·      Jacob Seiberg improved 16% in 50 free.

·      Margaret Southworth improved 17% in 25 free.

·      Will Spooner improved 22% in 25 fly.

·      Cole Wassiliew improved 18% in 25 breast.

·      Max Watson improved 16% in 25 free and 25% in 25 breast.